Rollinsford, Somersworth doing fine together

Tuesday

Nov 6, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By Steve MacKenzie

Most teachers learn early in their careers that one of the things kids have the hardest time adjusting to is divorce. I have listened to students agonize over feeling pulled, divided between two households, used as pawns, even responsible. Yet I’m not stupid. I know that in some cases there is no reasonable solution but divorce. I also know that there are many divorced parents out there who do an outstanding job of making sure their kids do not get caught in the middle. Yet many children pay a heavy price for feuding parents.

Several years ago I began hearing the rumblings of an unhappy group of Rollinsford parents who would like to dissolve the decades old AREA school agreement with Somersworth and send their middle and high school students to some other school district. A few weeks ago I attended a Somersworth School Board meeting devoted, in part, to soliciting public input on that issue. It seems some Rollinsford folks think their children are getting a sub-par education—that they can do better elsewhere. One board member told of overhearing a Rollinsford resident comment that her kids could finally get a decent education. Students who wish to get far better than a “decent” education at Somersworth High.

Having grown up in Rollinsford, been a long-time resident of Somersworth and a member of the faculty at Somersworth High School, I welcomed the opportunity to tell my own story:

I remember listening to Pomp and Circumstance and crying as the eighth graders at Rollinsford Grade School practiced for what would be the last graduation from that facility. The 1968/69 school year, I was in the 6th grade, was drawing to a close. The next fall all Rollinsford students from grade seven on up would be attending school in Somersworth. They have gone there since.

At the time I did not want to go to Somersworth. More than that I did not want to leave Rollinsford. But leave it I did and I survived. Now with a long history behind it I think the AREA school plan has served both Rollinsford and Somersworth well and I believe it would be a mistake to divorce.

Over the last several years Somersworth schools have continued to grow stronger and evolve into better places of learning. I urge the people of both Rollinsford and Somersworth, as well as their elected school boards to talk about their thoughts, their ideas, their problems and find ways to work them out rather than sever their relationship. As the Dalai Lama counseled: “Greatness comes when we talk.”

One of the things I should have said was talk to your kids; they are the ones who will pay the price of the adults’ decisions. But you see we don’t typically like to do that when it might not suit our purposes. After all they’re kids and kids wouldn’t understand. They don’t know what’s best for them. And the biggest one of all — kids don’t pay the bills or the taxes. Shortly after that public meeting I received the following letter from a former student.

Hey Mr. Mack,

I just wanted to Email you about this apparent battle between Rollinsford and Somersworth. I guess as a Somersworth Alum, a Somersworth resident, and the older sister of a Somersworth student I’m a little confused and more than a little offended. I was watching a taped school board meeting tonight and there was a public forum, at which I saw you talk! :) I guess I don’t really understand why Rollinsford parents have all of a sudden decided that Somersworth is not good enough for them and their children anymore. I heard some parents at that meeting speak about how no one is thinking about “their children,” but I want to know when they became just “their children.” I was always under the impression that Somersworth and Rollinsford children were collectively “ours.” I’ve always looked at this union as something that can’t be broken. Somersworth without Rollinsford is like McCartney without Lennon, Bonnie without Clyde, or a cookie without chocolate chips. During the public forum I heard a man say, in a nut shell, that Somersworth children make fun of Rollinsford children. I find that so incredibly offensive. So many of my very best friends are from Rollinsford and many of my sister’s best friends are too. Children who are going to make fun of others will do so no matter where they live, and the bad actions of some should not be held against the whole. I guess my opinion is that I never even considered differences between Somersworth and Rollinsford children until all of a sudden people decided to find some differences. To me Somersworth/Rollinsford has always seemed like one community.

I’ve told you what I think, but I really want to know what you think. I wracked my brain for someone I could talk to about this, and then I thought, who better than Mr. Mack?! :)

Hope to hear from you soon!

Love you mean it! :)

Ashley Kinsey

***

I’m finally going to respond to her, right here, right now. What I think, Ashley, is that I could not possibly have said it better than you did. You are a great example of what’s right in Somersworth and why we believe so intensely in our students—wherever they’re from. You show that kids do understand, that kids frequently do know what’s best for them, and they often give us an excellent return on our taxes, despite our reluctance to pay them.

The people of Rollinsford and Somersworth have been incredibly good to me throughout my life and I am deeply devoted to “our” kids. Again, I urge you to talk, to share your ideas, to seek greatness. Is divorce the only reasonable solution? You might discover your differences aren’t so irreconcilable after all.

Steve MacKenzie retired from the full-time English classroom in June 2012. He remains at Somersworth High part-time teaching Spanish and can be reached at room217@comcast.net.